Silencing the Past Quotes

“. . . But the past does not exist independently from the present. Indeed, the past is only past because there is a present, just as I can point to something over there only because I am here. But nothing is inherently over there or here. In that sense, the past has no content. The past -- or more accurately, pastness -- is a position. Thus, in no way can we identify the past as past." p. 15

". . . But we may want to keep in mind that deeds and words are not as distinguishable as often we presume. History does not belong only to its narrators, professional or amateur. While some of us debate what history is or was, others take it into their own hands." p. 153

Silencing the Past: Power and the Production of History (1995)”
― Michel-Rolph Trouillot, Silencing the Past: Power and the Production of History

“History is the fruit of power, but power itself is never so transparent that its analysis becomes superfluous. The ultimate mark of power may be its invisibility; the ultimate challenge, the exposition of its roots.”
― Michel-Rolph Trouillot, Silencing the Past: Power and the Production of History

“We are never as steeped in history as when we pretend not to be, but if we stop pretending we may gain in understanding what we lose in false innocence. Naiveté is often an excuse for those who exercise power. For those upon whom that power is exercised, naiveté is always a mistake.”
― Michel-Rolph Trouillot, Silencing the Past: Power and the Production of History

“French Caribbean island of Martinique, a tiny territory less than one-fourth the size of Long Island, imported more slaves than all the U.S. states combined.”
― Michel-Rolph Trouillot, Silencing the Past: Power and the Production of History

“For Trouillot, history is always material; it begins with bodies and artifacts, agents, actors, and subjects. His emphasis on process, production, and narration looks to the many sites where history is produced: the academy, the media, and the mobilization of popular histories by a variety of participants.”
― Michel-Rolph Trouillot, Silencing the Past: Power and the Production of History

“I find it hard to harness respect for those who genuinely believe that postmodernity, whatever it may be, allows us to claim no roots.”
― Michel-Rolph Trouillot, Silencing the Past: Power and the Production of History

“the past does not exist independently from the present. Indeed, the past is only past because there is a present, just as I can point to something over there only because I am here. But nothing is inherently over there or here. In that sense, the past has no content. The past—or, more accurately, pastness—is a position.”
― Michel-Rolph Trouillot, Silencing the Past: Power and the Production of History

“The ultimate mark of power may be its invisibility; the ultimate challenge, the exposition of its roots.”
― Michel-Rolph Trouillot, Silencing the Past: Power and the Production of History

“Two professors run the course, one an anthropologist and the other a historian. Laura and I are regarded as cultural-studies types, so following the sessions “In the Field” and “ About the Archive,” Laura and I are responsible for the session entitled “With the Texts.”
― Michel-Rolph Trouillot, Silencing the Past: Power and the Production of History